29 September 2015
SIDON, Lebanon: Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon water skied in Sidons new port waving the Lebanese flag as onlookers cheered with music by the Lebanese Scouts Association in the background. Sidon has an exceptional history forged by exceptional men and women, Pharaon said as gliders bearing Sidons municipal flag soared overhead. It is because of this fact that we chose to conclude the festival here.
The minister brought to a close the celebrated annual Lebanon Water Festival for the summer of 2015, right as the season itself neared its end.
Sidons guests came in the form of skiers from the Cypress Gardens Water Ski team, who gave the assembled audience a glimpse of their talents including barefoot skiing, jumps and a human pyramid. A small Fiberglas mini cooper was also paraded throughout the harbor as part of the performance.
It is the fourth time I come to Lebanon for the water ski show, but it is my first time in Sidon, Jeremy Armstrong, a water skier said. We made great friends in Lebanon over the years and are always excited to come back.
The Lebanon Water Festival has been a registered NGO since 2012. Its events and festivals have seen exponential growth throughout the years with an average of 30 percent more people participating each summer.
The festival, which was held earlier in September, brought together a community of like-minded enthusiasts with a passion for water-based sports such as surfing and longboarding. The community aims to instill greater respect for the environment, particularly the sea, within the greater Lebanese society. It also encourages the Lebanese to further discover their homeland and the treasures that lay concealed within it.
The show was highly professional, with calm water, thanks to Sidons new port, Simon Khoury the co-founder of the Lebanon Water Festival said. We have asked the municipality of Sidon to upkeep it in order to hold more events in the future.
It organized similar events in Tyre and Tripoli this summer.
Also present during the ceremony was Sidons Mayor Mohammad Saudi and Nasser Hammoud, the Future Movements official in the south. Representatives from the security forces including the Army, Internal Security Forces and Sidons municipal police were also present.
The festival celebrates all water-based sports across Lebanon. It was the first event of its kind in Sidon for decades. The garbage mountain was not far from my mind when I was working on my speech for the event, Saudi said. It has always hindered development in the city ... from the beginning of the city to the beach, all the way to the end.
In 2013 Sidons dump was removed due to efforts by the Lebanese government and UNDP, made possible through funding provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sidon has also established a new port.
We used to be ashamed to welcome visitors, Saudi said. This event would not have been possible if the dump was still here.
The ceremony, in addition to providing entertainment to Sidons residents, was also an occasion to raise the importance of preserving Sidons coastline.
The municipality has gone to great lengths to restore the coastline following the pollution it witnessed as a result of the dump. The municipality also built a sea wall to prevent any further waste from discharging into the sea.
Copyright The Daily Star 2015.
